Rib-knitting machine.



RIB KNITTIIIG IIIAcIIIIIE.

(Application led Dec. 14, 1895.\

6 Sheets-Sheet I.

No. 688,275. V Patented Dec. 3,1901..`

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A (Application led Dec. 14, 1895.) (No Model.) 6 Sheets-Sheet 5.

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Patented Dec. 3, |90I.

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(Application filed Dec. 14, 1895.)

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UNITED STATES PATENT OEEICE.

LOUIS N; n. WILLIAMS, OE ASIIBOUENE, PENNSYLVANIA, ASSIGNOR OE ONE- HALErro ROBERT W. SCOTT, OP PHILADELPHIA, PENNSYLVANIA.

RIB-KNITTING MACHINE.

sPEorEIcATIoN forming part of Lettere Patent No. 688,275, dated December3, 1901.

Application tiled December 14, 1895. Serial No. 572,113. (No model.)

To all whom t may concern..-

Beit known that I, LOUIS N; D. WILLIAMS, a citizen of the United States,residing in Ashbourne, Montgomery county, Pennsylvania, have inventedcertain Improvements in Rib- Knitting Machines, of which the followingis a specification.

The object of my invention is to so construct a ribknitting machine asto form blocks, plaids, stripes, or like fancy ligures, an especialfeature of the invention comprising means whereby such figures areproduced in portions of the fabric Which are formed throughout intuck-stitch.

In the accompanying drawings, Figure 1 is a vertical sectional view ofsuiiicient of aribknitting machine to illustrate my invention. Fig. 2 isa plan View of the dial-cam plate, showing the various cams on the underside of the same in dotted lines. Fig. 3 is a sectional Viewillustrating an adjustment ot' the cams of the dial-cam plate differingfrom either of those illustrated in Fig. 1. Fig. 4 is a sectional viewof a dial, dial-cam plate, needles, cams, and cam-operating devices of acharacter somewhat different from those represented in Figs. 1 and 2,but embodying the main features of my invention. Fig. 5 is a plan Viewof said dial-cam plate with the cams shown in dotted lines. Figs. 6, 7,and 8 are diagrams illustrating the different positions assumed by thecams of the dial-cam plate under ditferent conditions of working. Figs.9 and 10 are respectively aver-tical sectional view and a sectional planview show ing a modified construction of cams fora machine such asillustrated in Figs. 1 and 2. Figs. 11 and 12 are like views showing amoditied construction of cams for a machine such as illustrated in Figs.4 and 5, and Figs. 13 and 14 are views showing constructions of camswhich may be used when Welts are to be made.

In Fig. 1 I have illustrated my invention as applied to an ordinaryforin of rib-knitting machine having the vertical needle-cylinder 1,with needles 2, and vertical cam-box 8, with cams for actuating saidneedles, so as to cause them to knit. The circular horizontal plate ordial 4 is mounted, as usual, upon the central depending stem or spindle5 of the vset of them.

machine and is locked to the vertical cylinder 1, so as to be preventedfromv rotating with said depending stem Or spindle 5. Above the dial 4is the dial-cam plate 6, which'is secured to the spindle 5, so as torotate therewith and in unison with the cam-box 3 in such manner thatthe dial-needles will be projected simultaneously with those of theneedle-cylinder to receive the knitting thread or threads. The needlesofthe dial are divided into groups Or sets distinguished from each otherby being provided, respectively, with long and 4short latches. Thussupposing the dial to contain in all, say,-two hundred needles, theseneedles may be divided into twenty sets of ten each, ten of these setsbeing composed of needlesv 7, having short latches, while thel other tensets alternate with the first and are composed ot' needles 8, havinglonglatchesthat is to say,v the needles of the dial Would present first asetoften short-latched needles 7, then a set of'ten lOng-latched needles 8,then another set'of ten short-latched needles 7, then another set oflong-latched needles 8, and so on throughout. p

The machine is a double-feed machinethat is to say, it is intended foruse with two diametricallyiopposed threadguides, one of which feeds tothe needles a thread of one color or shade, while the other feeds tosaid needles a thread of a different and contrasting color or shade.There are consequently tWo sets of cam mechanism both in cylinder anddial, so as to project the needles at each thread-feeding point. Thecams of the cam` box for acting upon the needles of the Verticaleylinder and also the draw-in cams and guard-cams of the dial-cam platemay be as usual, and hence need not be further referred to. Theneedle-projecting cams of the dialcam' plate, however, are of novelconstruction; but as both sets of cams are precisely alike it lWill benecessary to describe but one There are in each set two cams 9 and 10,the cam 9 being a sliding cam and the cam 10 apivoted and vibrating cam.The cam 9 has a bolt 11 projecting through a slot in the dial-cam plateand enga-ged at a point above said cam-plate by one arm of a lever 12,which is hung to a suitable pin on said carnplate. The cam 10 is carriedby a pivot, stud,

or shaft 13 of an arm 11, and the hub of said arm 1-1has above thedial-cam plate a toothed segment 15, which meshes with a correspondingtoothed segment 1G on the hub of the lever 12, so that motion impartedto the lever is transmitted to the arm, and vice versa, these twoelements being thereby caused to move in unison, but in oppositedirections. Each of the cams 9 and lO is susceptible of being moved toeither of three diderent positions, such movement being effected bycontact of the lever 12 or arm 14 with a stud or disk moved into linewith the outer projecting portion of said arm or leverin a manner commonin this class of machines, the arm and lever occupying differenthorizontal planes, as shown in Fig. 1, so as to permit of the readyoperation of either of them in this manner. When the cam 9 is fullyretracted, as shown at the right-hand side of Figs. 1 and 2, it fails toproject either of the needles 7 or 8 to such an extent as to clcar7 thesame-that is to Say, to carry the inner or free end of the latchoutwardly beyond the stitch upon the needle; but when the cam 9 is fullyretracted the cam 10 is fully projected, and this cani acts upon theinner ends ot the stems ofthe needles S so as to project or clear thesame, as shown at the right-hand side of Fig. 1, said cam 10 having noeffect upon the needles 7, owing to the fact that their stems or Shanksare shorter than those of the needles S. At the right-hand side of themachine, therefore, the needles 8 will be cleared or will cast theirstitches and receive new ones, while the needles 7 will be tucked-thatis to say,they will not castthe stitches already upon them, but willreceive the thread to form additional stitches. X'Vhen the cam 9 ispartially projected, the cam 10 is partially retracted, as

shown at the left-hand side of Figs. 1 and 2.`

Hence when the needles 7 and S are subjected to the action of the camswhen thus adjusted the cam 10 will not have any projecting effect uponthe needles 8, both sets of needles being projected to the same extentby the cam 9. This extent of projection is sufficient to clear theneedles 7, having sho-rt latches, but is not enough to clear the needles8, having long latches. Hence at this point the needles 7 will becleared and the needles 8 tucked. At the point where one knitting-threadis fed to the machine, therefore, one half of the needles in separatedsets or groups will be cleared, while the other half of the needles inalternate sets or groups will be tucked, while at the point where thesecond knitting-thread is fed to the machine the needles which werecleared at the first feedingpoint Will be tucked and those which weretucked at the first feeding-point will be cleared.

The thread which is fed to the needles when the tuck-stitches are beingformed upon them appears more prominently on the face of the fabric thanthe thread which is fed to the needles which are being cleared. Hence solong as the cams retain the positions shown in Figs. 1 and 2 one threadwill appear prominently upon the surface of the fabric throughout allportions of the same represented by the groups of needles 7, while theotherthread will appear prominently upon the face of thefabricthroughout all portions of the same represented bythe groups ofneedles S, the effect being to produce stripes in the fabric, owing tothe different or contrasting colors or shades of the knitting-threads.

XVhen the cam 9 is projected to its full extent, it acts upon the bitsof all of the needles so as to project them to the clearingpoint, andthus produce plain ribbed work, as shown in Fig. 3. In order to produceblocks or plaids, the dial-cams are shifted at intervals-that is to say,a certain number of courses are knitted with the cams in the positionshown in Figs. 1 and 2, and the posi-h tion of the cams is thenreversed, the cams which were before adjustedto the position shown atthe right-hand side of Fig. 1 being adjusted to the position shown atthe lefthand side of said iigure and those cams which were beforeadjusted to the position shown at the left-hand side ot' Fig. 1 beingadjusted to the position shown at the right-hand side of said figure.The needles 7, which were before tucked at the right-hand side of themachine, will nowclear, and the needles S, which were before cleared atthat point, will now tuck, and in like manner the needles 7, which werebefore cleared at the left-hand side of the machine, will now tuck, andthe needles 8, which were before tucked at that point, will new clear.Hence there will be a change in the character of the threads appearingmost prominently on the face of the fabric.

In the modified construction shown in Figs. 4 to 8 both cams and needlesare somewhat changed, two vibrating cams 2O and 21, located one abovethe other, taking the place of the sliding cam 9 and vibrating cam l0before described, and the short-latched needles 7, having bit-s intendedto be acted upon by the lower cam 2O only, while the long-latchedneedles S have longer bits intended to be acted upon by the upper cam 2land also under certain circumstances by the lower cam 20. Both cams 2Oand 21 are carried by a singie stem 22, which has above the dial-camplate a two-armed hub 23, one of the arms being connected by a link 24to a pivoted arm 25, hung to a stud which rotates with the dial- IOO camplate, and the other arm of the hub being connected by a similar link 26to an arin 27, likewise pivoted to said stud. Hence by proper contact ofan actuating lug or disk with the arm 25 or 27 the cams 20 and 2l can beadjusted to either of the positions shown in Figs. 6, 7, or 8. Whenadjusted tothe position shown in Fig. (i and at the right-hand side ofFigs. 4 and 5, the upper cam 2l projects the long-latched needles 8 tothe clearing-point and the lower cam 20 only projects the short-latchedneedles 7-to the tuckpoint. When adjusted to the intermediate positionshown in Fig. 7 and at the left in Figs. 4 and 5, the two cams haveabout the same throw, and the short-latched needles 7 will be projectedto the clearing-point, while the long-latched needles 8 will only beprojected to the tuck-point. W'hen the ea-ms are adjusted to theposition'shown in Fig. 8, the lower cam 2O projects all of the needlesto the clearing-point. Hence provision is afforded by this constructionfor all of the various operations possible with the construction shownin Figs. 1, 2, and

Either arrangement of cams described provides for the production ofblock or plaid patterns in fabric knitted in tuck-stitch throughout; butwhen itis desired to produce tucked stripes of the same color throughoutor'to produce blocked stripes of tuckwork alternating with stripeshaving plain portions alternating with the tucked portions it is notnecessary to have the same construction of cams at both sides of thedial-cam plate, a single cam being used at one side of said plate andsaid cam being adjustable to two positions and serving when in the innerposition to project the long-latched needles to the tuck-point and theshort-latched needles to the clearing-point and when in the outermostposition projecting both sets of needles to the clearing-point. Suchconstructions are illustrated in Figs. 9, 10, 11, and 12, Figs. 9'

and 10 showing a sliding cam 28, intended for use in conjunction withcams of the character shown in Figs. 1 .and 2, while Figs. 11 and 12show a swinging cam 29, adapted to be used in connection with cams otthe character shown in Figs. 4 and 5.

When it is desired to construct the machine so as to produce awelt byknitting on the cylinder-needles While all of the dial-needles areretracted so as to retain their stitches, but form no new ones, the cams9 and 10 may be combined with a swinging slotted cam 30 of a charactersimilar to that set forth in Robert W.- Scotts patent, No. 368,429,dated August 16, 1887, such cam following the cams 9 and 10, as shown inFig. 13, and being carried by a stem pivotally mounted in the dialcamplate, whereby it is adjustable so as to direct the needles either tothe' clearing, tuck, or Welt points, all of the cams being so hung andactuated as to be independent one of another, or such a cam may be usedin advance of a cam 10, as shown at 31 in Fig. 14, said camlO serving toproject certain of the needles to the clearing-point when the cam 31 isat the tuck-point and being moved entirely out of the way when the cam31 is adjusted to the welt-point. The stem whichl carries the cam 30 or31is acted upon by mechanism of a character similar to that which actsupon the stem22 of Figs. 4 and 5, so that said cams can be moved toeither of three positionsthat is to say, to an innermost or weltposition, as in Fig. 13, to an outmost or clearing position, as in Fig.14, or to an intermediate or tuck position. When in the povthecylinder-needles.

.sition shown in Fig. 13, it acts upon all of the needles to retractIthe same to such an extent that they will not receive thread from theguideat that side of the machine. Hence stitches will be formed on thecylinder-needles only, and this may be continued for as many courses asdesired. In the construcltion shown in Fig. 14 the cam 31 is adjusted soas to move all of the needles to the clearing-point; but when it ismoved inward to the tuck-point-the cam 10 can also be moved inward sothat the needles will remain at the tuck-point. When the cam 31 isadjusted to the intermediate or tuck position,l the cam 10 can beadjusted so as to either permit the needles to remain in this positionor move them outward to the clearing position.

It will be observed on reference tol Figs. 1, 3, and 9 that the cam 10isllocated at or close to thebase-line of the needles or bottom of thegrooves in which said needles work, so that its presence adds nothingvtothe thick- `ness of the dial-cam plate, while its action upon theneedles is most direct.

Although I have described the peculiar needles and cams constituting thesubject of my invention 'as applied to the dial and dial-cam plate,itwill be evident that needles and cams of a substantially similarcharacter can be employed in connection with the needle-cylinder and itscam-box when it is desired to produce thepeculiar character of workdescribed upon Hence in the claims I have used the term needle-carrierto indi- Cate either the dial or cylinder and the term cam-carrier toindicate either the dial-cam plate or cylinder cam-box.

Having thus described my invention, I claim-and desire to secure byLetters Patent 1. The combination in a knitting-machine, of aneedle-carrier provided with needles arranged in alternating groups, andhaving respectively longlatches and short latches, with a cam-carrierhaving cams acting independently, oneupon the short-latched needles andthe other upon the long-latched needles, these cams being adjustable tovary the exten-t of projection of the needles whereby either set ofneedles may be caused to tuck and the other set to clear.

2. The combination in a knitting-machine, ot a needle-carrier providedwith needles arranged in. alternating groups, and having respectivelylong latches and short latches, with a cam-carrier having cams actingindependently, one upon the short-latched needles and the other upon thelong-latched needles, one of the cams being also adapted to act uponboth sets of needles, and thesecams being adjustable to vary thepextentof projection of the'dneedles whereby either set of needles may becaused to tuck and the other set to clear or both sets of needles may becaused to clear.

3. The combination ina knitting-machine, of a needle-carrier providedwith needles arranged in alternating groups, and having re- IOO IIO

spectivelylonglatches and short latches, with a cam'carrier having twocam structu res one actuating the needles so as to clear on thelong-latched needles and tuck on the shortlatched needles, and the otheracting to clear on the short-latched needles and tuck on thelong-latched needles, the latter cam structure being adjustable to varythe extent of projection of the needles thereby so as to clear on bothsets of needles.

5. The combination in a knitting-machine, of a needle-carrier providedwith needles arranged in alternating groups and havingrespectivelylonglatches and short latches, with a cam-carrier having twocam structures one actuating the needles so as to clear on thelong-latched needles and tuck on the shortlatched needles, and the otheracting' to clear on the short-latched needles and tuck on thelong-latched needles, both cam structures being adjustable to vary theextent of projection of the needles thereby so as to clear on both setsof needles.

6. The combination in a knittiugmachine, 0f a needle-carrier providedwith needles arranged in alternating groups and having respectively longlatches and short latches, with a cam-carrier having two sets of cams,each set comprisingindependent cams, one for acting upon theshort-latched needles and the other for acting upon the long-latchedneedles, each set of cams being adjustable to Vary the extent ofprojection ot' the needles thereby so as to provide for tucking uponeither set of needles, and clearing upon the other.

'7. The combination in a knitting-machine, of a needle-carrier providedwith needles arranged in alternating groups and having respectively longlatches and short latches, with a cam-carrier having two sets of cams,each set comprising independent cams, one for acting on the long-latchedneedles only, and the other for acting upon either the short-latchedneedles only or upon both sets of needles, said cams being adjustable sothat either set of needles may be cleared and the others tucked, or bothsets may be cleared.

8. The combination in a knitting-machine, of a needle-carrier providedwith needles arranged in alternating groups and having respectively longlatches and short latches with a cam-carrier having a sliding camadapted to act either upon the bits of the short-latehed needles or uponthe bits of the long-latched needles, and a pivoted and vibratable camacting upon the ends of the stems of the longlatched needles.

9. The combination in a knitting-machine, of-a needle-carrier providedwith needles arranged in alternating groups and having respectively longlatches and short latches, with a cam-carrier having a cam adapted toact upon the bits of the needles, and another cam for acting upon theneedle-stems, the latter cam occupying a position at or close to thebase-line of the needles.

l0. Thecombiuationinaknitting-machine, of a needle-carrier provided withneedles arranged in alternating groups and having respectively longlatches and short latches, with a cam-carrier having cams for actingindependently upon the long-latched needles and short-latched needles, apair of cam-actuating arms and connections between the same and the camswhereby movement of either arm will eiect adjustment of the cams.

11. The combination in a knitting-machine, of a needle-carrier providedwith needles arranged in alternating groups and having respectively longlatches and short latches, with a cani-carrier having a sliding cam foracting on the bits of the short-latched needles, a pivoted andvibratable cam for acting upon the stems of the long-latched -needles, alever for operating the sliding cam, an arm for operating the pivotedcam, and gearing connecting said arm and lever so as to cause them tomove in unison but in opposite directions.

12. The combination in a knitting-machine, of a needle-carrier providedwith needles arranged in alternating groups and having respectivelylonglatehes and short latches, with a cam-carrier having a cam adaptedto move the needles to the welt point, and a cam adapted to move certainof the needles to the clearing-point, both of said cams being adjustableto vary the extent of projection of the needles and throw them into andout of action.

13. The combination in a knitting-machine, of a needle-carrier providedwith needles arranged in alternating groups and having respectively longlatches and short latches, with a cam-carrier having a slotted cammovable so as to direct the needles either to the clearing-point, thetuck-point or the welt-point, and a projecting cam as 10 for acting uponcertain of the needles independently of said slotted cam, said secondcam being also adjustable to vary the extent of projection of theneedles thereby.

In testimony whereof I have signed my name to this specification in thepresence of two subscribing witnesses.

LOUIS N. D. NVILLIAMS.

Witnesses:

WILL. A. BARR, Jos. H. KLEIN.

IOO

